WCC women's soccer team eager to answer challenge

"I think the early success of the men's program does puts some pressure on the women," said Josh Turpen, who will coach both teams this season. "But, so far, everybody has been supportive. They understand this is a first-year program. Our hopes, obviously, are to build as consistent a team as the boys have become."

But even putting together a full roster has not been an easy task this summer.

"Our first challenge has been getting the word out that we even had a program," Turpen said in a phone interview. "It's kind of been a grass-roots, word-of-mouth process. We've talked to a lot of local coaches and players, but we found that most of the players of that age group were already travelling somewhere else to play. Finding local players has been really difficult for us this year."

Turpen said he and his coaches are still actively seeking players and would like to add at least three more names to their current roster of 17.

One of the most important roles the Orcas are still looking to fill is goalie.

"We don't have a goalie right now," Turpen said. "We have some players that can definitely step in and play the position, and we have a line on a couple others, and we'll hopefully convince one or two to come out."

Turpen said the WCC roster also currently has an interesting mix of players, with everything from freshmen to players that have been out of the game a few years after playing collegiately elsewhere.

One of those players excited to get back in the game is forward Lauren Lichon, who is a transfer from Western Washington University and hasn't played collegiately since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament. After the injury, Lichon and her roommate worked hard to establish a club soccer team at Western.

"She can't wait to get back on the field competitively," said Turpen, who also coached her on a U-17 team in Seattle. "She will definitely be one of our most effective offensive players. She's fast, she's strong and she's good with the ball."

Former Bellingham Red Raider Nina Rhea likely will be one of the key players in feeding Lichon the ball from her center midfield position.

"She's got a great soccer mind," Turpen said of Rhea. "She's a really good ball-handler and will be a team leader for us."

Turpen said he expects Squalicum graduate Haley Halverstraw to be the leader for the Orcas defense, which he figures will be a team strength this season.

"We have got two or three offensive powerhouses who are going to score some goals for us, but I think we are deeper defensively," Turpen said.

But the Orcas' exact strengths and weaknesses won't be known for sure until they take the field for the first time on Sept. 3 at Green River Community College. The program's first home game will come Sept. 9 against Highline Community College, and like most of its games this season, it will represent the first half a women's/men's doubleheader.

"The challenge for us will be building team unity," Turpen said. "Everybody is coming in from all these different backgrounds, and it will take us a while to have everybody find their role on this team. But once we get a couple of games under our belt, I expect us to start getting sharp. We have some pretty talented individuals on this team. Once we start playing games, I know we have enough firepower to be competitive with the other teams in this league."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com at 715-2271.